Track Prepares for Big 12 Outdoor Championships

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University track and field team is set to compete in its first ever Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 3-5 at the Hart-Patterson Track & Field Complex in Waco, Texas.

Competition for the three day event begins on Friday at 1 p.m. with the decathlon, while the hammer throw is the first field event at 2 p.m., and the only running event on the track is the 10,000-meter run at 9:15 p.m. The meet will resume on Saturday at 11 a.m., and Sunday at noon. All times listed are Eastern.

“Championship time is always a very special time of the year. The preparations from early fall are evaluated in a strict environment over a few days. This is what the kids train for and we are anxiously awaiting yet another big test,” coach Sean Cleary says. “From the beginning of the year, we have made the number of NCAA qualifiers for Greensboro our number one priority. We are hoping to add another name or two to this trip this coming weekend. Our hopes are to go in and score in more events than we did at the indoor championships. This will be the goal in each and every Big 12 Championships.”

WVU owns nine top eight marks in the Big 12 with the trio of Jordan Hamric, Aubrey Moskal and Sarah Martinelli leading the way with high rankings in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Hamric, the school record holder, sits at No. 3 with a time of 10:17.58, while Moskal and Martinelli are ranked No. 5 (10:30.11) and No. 7 (10:34.88), respectively.

The Mountaineers have four field event performers ranked in the league standings, with Sydney Cummings leading the way at No. 2 with a mark of 1.78 meters in the high jump. School record holder Katlyn Shelar comes in at No. 4 in the pole vault, with a personal-best mark of 4.10 meters, while Stormy Nesbit has a No. 3 ranking in the triple jump with a mark of 12.59 meters. Heather Adams rounds out the top field event performers at No. 7 in the hammer throw with a personal-best mark of 54.55 meters.

“I feel that we have between 8-10 young ladies that have a chance to put themselves onto the podium. This will be a nice improvement from indoors,” Cleary says. “This is a world class track and field conference. We knew exactly what we were, heading into indoors, as we do now, going into outdoors. We need to keep working hard and preparing.”

Live results from the race can be found at deltatiming.com, while final results and a recap will be posted on WVUsports.com following the completion of competition each day.